Peace Forum

To those people who were confused with the piece, “Patriot Riders”; this is what I meant to write. See if the News Tribune prints it in Letters To The Editor (Thursday):

Whereas the Taylors of Lakewood would complain that it was a waste and unnecessary risk of life. I’d add that it was propaganda and an enlistment stunt.

When I was at the Air Expo the loud speaker at one point anounced, “That is the sound of Freedom”, I did not know if he was refering to the applause of the crowd or the roar of the jet. My 13-year-old nephew was with me. He went to the booth with the banner, “Earn Money for College” and returned with a pin, two pencils and a sticker. His attention was quickly attracted to the video game/recruiting tool next to the stryker vehicle. We also noted the Air Force jet-car, monster truck and other testosterone-attracting gimicks.

It is a shame that we teach our children that our servicemen and women fight for our freedom. That is not very accurate. They fight for the government. There are several instances in history to prove this; in the case of the “Little Rock 9″, National Guard were ordered to protect the students’ Rights to learn in a de-segregated high school only when the Government followed the wishes of the People. On the other hand in 1932, there was the case of the “Bonus Army” when the President ordered General MacArthur to disperse the WW I veterans and families which he did with cavalry and machine guns.

I would like to add that though I was not hassled for wearing my Veterans For Peace T-shirt at the Air Expo, a serviceman asked me if I did not like them. I replied that I did not dislike them and that my unit was a predecessor of his unit. I should have added that he may find himself in my postion in the future, just as I see my past self in him.

Ramon Nacanaynay

Ed. Note - Below is the original post Ray is referring to:

(7/20/08)

I was at Meeker Days in Puyallup manning the Veterans For Peace booth when a woman identified herself as a Patriot Rider.  I thought why “Patriot Rider”, why not “Freedom Rider”?  There is a “Freedom Bridge” already.  Then I did some research,  “Freedom Rider” was already taken.  Back in the 1950’s in Mississippi more than a hundred people were arrested and mug-photoed for “breach of peace”, the violation of transportation segregation laws.  You can learn more from the new book, “Breach of Peace”, by  Lewis Zuchman.   Thus, there is truth in the statement that “People fight fo Rights and Freedoms and Soldiers for the Government.”  In the case of the “Little Rock 9″, National Guard were ordered to protect the students’ Rights to learn in a de-segregated high school only when the Government followed the wishes of the People.  On the other hand in 1932, there was the case of the “Bonus Army” when the President ordered General MacArthur to disperse the WW I veterans and families which he did with cavalry and machine guns.

Ramon Nacanaynay

 

By Barry Wigmore of The Mail Online, July 2nd, 2008

American interrogation of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, including the notorious technique of waterboarding, was based on a communist torture manual from the Korean War, it was revealed yesterday.

The communist methods were outlined, and condemned, in a 1957 U.S. Air Force study of how captured American airmen could resist Chinese questioning which the communists called ‘coercive management techniques’.

As well as the Chinese water torture the manual also included sleep deprivation, prolonged and cramped constraint, exposure to extremes of cold and heat, noise stress, and sexual and religious embarrassment.

Read rest of article

As some of you know my heart is for the children. According to House Resolution 1258, the 35 Articles to Impeach G.W. Bush by Senator Kucinich, article 20:

In May 2008, the U.S. government reported to the U.N. that it has been holding upwards of 2,500 children under the age of 18 as “enemy combatants” at detention centers in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, . . . Some as young as 10.

In addition to that, I heard from Randi Rhodes on AM1090, that the Judiciary Committee held hearings on torture recently with almost no media present. The ones being questioned were Addington and John Yoo. One of the questions involved the toruring of detainee’s children. We need to get to the bottom of this. Why isn’t any of this front page news? If you have not written to the Tacoma News Tribune in a month please write or e-mail them now.

Ray Nacanaynay